Petrelis Files

LA City Council Unanimously

Passes Gay Iraq Resolution

Mike Bonin, the chief of staff to Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl, shares some fantastic news, about a resolution for LGBT Iraqis that should garner some media attention:

The resolution passed unanimously. Ten of the council's 15 members rose to speak, many quite eloquently and emotionally, in support of the resolution. Local LGBT activists spoke in favor of the resolution, and did a representation of the SEUI local, who was at council on another matter.

Kudos to Councilman Rosendahl, Bonin, and the entire LA City Council for speaking out against the violence and murder against gays in Iraq. Here is the text of what passed this morning:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, any official position of the City of Los Angeles with respect to legislation, rules, regulations or policies proposed to or pending before a local, state or federal government body or agency must have first been adopted in the form of a Resolution by the City Council with the concurrence of the Mayor: and

WHEREAS, very disturbing reports are surfacing from Iraq about torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people; and

WHEREAS, for the past three weeks a crackdown on homosexuals has been going on in Iraq based on a religious decree that demands their death; dozens have been targeted and some religious leaders have also declared the death penalty for sodomy on satellite channels; and

WHEREAS, attacks against homosexuals have been abundant in certain neighborhoods, especially poor regions and remote areas such as the southern provinces and the Hurriya, Sho’la and Sadr neighborhoods in Baghdad; so far, 63 members of the group have been tortured; and

WHEREAS, a prominent Iraqi human rights activist has reported that Iraqi militia have deployed a painful form of torture against homosexuals by closing their anuses using “Iranian gum” a very strong Iranian-manufactured glue that if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery; after they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea and since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death; and

WHEREAS, many young men who have been tortured by this method have gone to the hospital for treatment and in some cases they were refused treatment; and

WHEREAS, according to newspaper reports from local news sources in Sadr City in East Baghdad, a previously unknown group “Ahl al-Haq” (the followers of Truth) have stepped up the persecution of Iraqi homosexuals after the murder of a number of them in the past few days; and

WHEREAS, local police authorities have stated that “the extra-judicial killing of any citizen is a crime punishable by law. No one has the right to become a substitute for judicial authorities or executive authorities, and if there are complaints against individuals, there is law and there are police and there are government agencies. No group or class has the authority to punish people instead of the state;” and

WHEREAS, As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Iraqi government has an obligation to protect the right to life (Article 6) and the right of all its citizens “to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (Article 7);

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that by the adoption of this Resolution, the City of Los Angeles hereby includes in its 2009-2010 Federal Legislative Program support for legislation and administrative action which calls upon the government of Iraq to prevent the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and protect the right to life and the right of all its citizens to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council hereby calls on the United States government, including President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to take action to end the persecution and murder of Iraqi gays, including but not limited to making a strong, public and international statement condemning the action and exerting all necessary pressure on the Iraqi government to take action.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council hereby calls on the mainstream media to shine a light on and draw attention to this largely ignored story of brutality, discrimination and human rights violations.

PRESENTED BY:

BILL ROSENDAHL
Councilman, 11th District

[Solidarity Rally With LGBT Iraqis.
Sunday, May 17, Noon - 4 PM.
Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market Streets
San Francisco, CA, USA.
JOIN US!]